Good Morning Chicago DSA,

It’s officially over! Deb Mell has conceded the 33rd Ward election to Rossana Rodriguez! That means that there are now 6 Democratic Socialists in city council. Huge congratulations to Rossana and everybody who worked on her campaign and everybody who lives in the 33rd Ward and now has a kick ass new alderman. It was long fight but we made it through!

Now that municipal elections are over, we’ve got internal elections to think about over the next few months. The first election we have is we need to vote on our delegation for the DSA national convention in August. You should have received an email about this already, but if not, long story short there are 70 people running for 41 spots. If you haven’t registered to vote for that yet please do so. Make sure to also read through all the candidates’ statements before the online vote, May 15-17.

At the general meeting in June, we will also be having our chapter’s officer elections. Both co-chair positions, the political education position, secretary, and both communications and campaigns coordinator are all up for election. I know a number of the people currently in those positions (including me!) aren’t planning on running again so if you’re interested in taking on more of a leadership role in the chapter please consider running! We haven’t sent out any official information on those elections yet, so be on the lookout for that soon-ish.

We have a pretty solid week of events ahead of us. All the information is below. I’ll see you out there, comrades 🙂

Sunday, April 28

CDSA Lift the Ban Committee Meeting; 4 PM – 6 PM; 1622 S. Blue Island
Join the Chicago DSA Lift The Ban On Rent Control committee to formulate our plans and strategy to aid the state-wide coalition for rent control and further a socialist agenda for housing justice.

Monday, April 29

1st Ward Town Hall; 6 PM – 8 PM; Wells Community Academy High School; 936 N. Ashland Ave.Join Alderman-Elect and CDSA member Daniel La Spata for a town hall on Monday, April 29th. Alderman-Elect La Spata wants to hear your concerns for the ward and what you want to see him pursue once he takes office on May 20th. Bring your questions, concerns, and neighbors.

May Day March; 11 AM – 2 PM; 59th and Ellis Ave.This May Day, University workers and the broader community will march in unison to show solidarity with one another and all working people on the South Side. We will marshal at the corner of 59th and Ellis before marching together to send a message of unity and strength. The march will conclude with a rally at Levi Hall to demand fair bargaining, for workers at UChicago and beyond, and a voice in the decisions that impact all our lives.
The route should have ADA-compliant sidewalks. For people who aren’t up for marching a full hour people will be gathering at the endpoint of the march where a final rally will be held.

Mother Jones May Day Birthday Party; 5 PM – 8 PM; Irish American Heritage Center; 4626 N. Knox Ave.This celebration organized by Mother Jones Lives has been endorsed by CDSA.Come celebrate the Most Dangerous Woman in America. Join us as we unveil a new exhibit including a major work by artist Lindsey Hand. Exhibit funded by Government of Ireland.

Socialist Night School; 1 PM – 3 PM; Location will be updated shortlyWatch out on FB, Twitter, and the CDSA website this week for more information on this session of Socialist Night School

Other

Our Socialist Feminist Working Group has started fundraising for the Chicago Abortion Fund through the annual Abortion Bowl-A-Thon! Last year, the team – the Bowletariat – raised over ten thousand dollars for abortion access. To find out more about the team and why they’re raising money and to then be in such awe that you want to donate money and also maybe join the team, check out the team’s donation profile!

The Strike and Solidarity Committee is looking for strike captains! If you’re interested in being a strike captain (no experience required!), fill out this survey about the times and areas where you could help. They have also set up an SMS system to keep people posted about strike and solidarity actions. People that want to get updates should text SOLIDARITY to 55222.

If you aren’t on the CDSA Slack Channel yet, but would like to be, shoot me an email at cdsacomms@gmail.com and I’ll get you set up with it.

Grievance Policy. If you ever feel you are being harassed by another member of DSA, or made to feel uncomfortable by a member, or have a conflict with another member, please reach out to hgo@chicagodsa.org to get in touch with our chapter’s Harassment and Grievance Officers.

As Always:

Fill out this form immediately if you have CDSA organized/sponsored event you want on the calendar. To get the event on this email, it must be submitted by the preceding Friday.

Check out the events page on our website for the most up date list of events.